comStar Firewall alert - PhaseThrough

sprites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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tUtor Sprite
Tutor sprites are living emanations of virtual instructor and
helper programs that possess a native understanding of a particular
technical, vehicle, or knowledge skill. They are able to help someone
to use, repair, or understand a particular device or program.
Pilot Response Firewall Matrix INIT IP EDGE RES
R R+1 R Rx2 3 R R
Skills: Computer, Hardware, Instruction, Software
Complex Forms: Analyze, Browse, Skillsoft (a Tutor sprite may
be given the skillsoft of a Technical, Vehicle, or Knowledge skill as
a complex form, chosen by the technomancer upon compiling)
Powers: Proficiency, Stability
Optional CFs: Command, Edit, Skillsoft (can be chosen multiple
times)
new Sprite powerS
The powers listed here are in addition to the sprite powers
found on pp. 236–237, SR4. Some of these powers are specific to
the new sprites described above or the dissonant sprite; the rest are
available only to free sprites.
assault
When using the Assault power, a sprite can attack a persona
or icon with two attacks as if using two weapons in real ranged
combat (Attacker Uses Second Firearm, p. 142, SR4). Instead of
splitting the dice pool in half, however, only the sprite’s Pilot rating
is halved, adding each Attack complex form separately to one half
or the other (it must have two Attack complex forms). Assault is
a single attack and can only be executed against an icon once for
the duration of a combat.
castling
Named after the chess move, a sprite using this power with a
Complex Action can redirect damage targeted at the technomancer
to itself by temporarily mimicking the technomancer’s access ID.
Hardening
A sprite with this power can temporarily empower its Armor
complex form to become like Hardened Armor (p. 288, SR4), allowing
the sprite to soak damage from most sources as long as it
continues to use the power. Using Hardening counts as a Complex
Action, similar to going on Full Defense.
info Sortilege
Like the echo described on p. 146, except that the sprite uses
its rating instead of Resonance.
probability distribution
A sprite with this power can change the probability distribution
of a Matrix action by raising or lowering the amount of system
resources allocated to perform it. To use this power, the sprite rolls
a test of its Rating x 2 against half the node’s Response (round
up) as a threshold. If it succeeds, either increase or decrease the
dice pool of the targeted test by a number of dice equal to half the
sprite’s rating (round up). As this test requires a Complex Action,
the sprite must have delayed its action to use this power in order
to affect another’s test.
proficiency
Tutor sprites possess skillsofts that grant them an understanding
of one or more Technical, Vehicle, or Knowledge
skills, chosen upon compiling. While it can teach these skills
to any person, like an instructor or interactive tutorsoft, it
can also use this skill to assist a person in AR or VR as some
kind of virtual assistant, with a proficiency power similar to a
medkit’s autodoc program or an autosoft for humans. When
the sprite guides a user through a complex task (not necessarily
only the technomancer) who does not possess the skill in
question, the character may perform the skill test without any
modifiers, counting half the sprite’s rating (round up) as the
level of the skill. Since the sprite acts as a kind of smart tutorial
and teacher, assisting someone in this manner is usually more
time-consuming than the normal test would be, and therefore
requires an Extended or Complex Action depending on the
situation (gamemaster’s call).
traceroute
The Traceroute power allows a sprite to sniff out the
datatrail left by an individual’s daily interactions with the virtual
world—credit transactions, phone calls, video surveillance
shots, email, driving a car with GridGuide, or even using a passkey
to get through a corporate enclave’s security gate. In 2070,
almost everyone leaves a constant trace of themselves within the
Matrix on a daily basis, every time they access their commlinks.
Traceroute gives a sprite the ability to home in on the most recent
interactions.
To use Traceroute, the sprite “sniffs” some data relating to
the target and makes an Extended Test pitting its Rating + Track
against a variable threshold as determined by the Traceroute Table
(p. 157) with a base time of 1 hour. If it succeeds, the sprite can
locate the node that the target is currently in, if that person is online,
or the most recent physical location from which the target
interacted with the Matrix.
Unwired
Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9